Hospital Performance

Attached a link http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/us/hospital-performance-improved-report-finds.html to an interesting article titled "Report Finds Improved Performance by Hospitals," reporting that in the latest advance for health care accountability, the country’s leading hospital accreditation board, the Joint Commission, released a list http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/Top_Performers_2010_list_9_13_11.pdf on Tuesday of 405 medical centers that have been the most diligent in following protocols to treat conditions like heart attack and pneumonia. Almost without exception, most highly regarded hospitals in the United States, from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., did not make the list!

"With evidence-based ratings gaining prevalence, and a strengthening link between quality and payment, the Joint Commission report raised questions about how consumers should best use the data newly available to them. Increasingly, one component of that inquiry may be whether hospital reputations are deserved or mythologized."

"As an example, none of the 17 medical centers listed by U.S. News & World Report on its “Best Hospitals Honor Roll” this year are on the Joint Commission’s list of 405 hospitals that received at least a 95 percent composite score for compliance with treatment standards. About one-third of a hospital’s score in the U.S. News methodology is based on its reputation as gauged by a survey of physicians...the Joint Commission list of top performers included a disproportionate share of small and rural hospitals, as well as 20 Veterans Affairs medical centers. About 14 percent of roughly 3,000 eligible hospitals made the cut."

"As it is, both private and government health insurers are beginning to tie hospital reimbursements to quality measures like infection rates and readmissions. Next year, compliance with procedural standards will become even more consequential, as the Joint Commission plans to withhold accreditation from any hospital that posts a composite score below 85 percent."

This report serves as a reminder that payers will use this data to strengthen the link between quality and payment.
Therefore, physicians should consider adjusting their treatment protocols and quality measurements accordingly.

Yours

Bernd